Chapter Thirty-Nine
Justice begins at home.
(Portuguese proverb)
All that Arnie can see, when he finally opens his eyes, is a bright, unearthly white.
The walls are white; the sheets are white.
Even Noreen is white. And as for Lyle and myself, we are back in our working clothes.
Which are – you’ve guessed it – a rather soothing yet distinguished ivory colour. Okay, white.
Noreen is smiling down on him, staring concernedly at the bandage around his head.
“So, this is heaven,” says Arnie, blinking in the almost dazzling light. “Hello, everyone.”
“Don’t be a twit, Arnie,” says Noreen. “Melisande missed you by a mile.”
“The boat was swaying so much, the bullet just hit the EXIT sign,” explains Lyle, in that delicious voice. “Well, the EXODUS sign. Which, unfortunately, fell right on your follically challenged head.”
“But you’re still alive, pardner!” I give him my best John Wayne.
“What about Cleo?”
“We found her in the trunk of Big Louie’s car,” says Lyle.
Arnie gasps in horror.
“Alive and unharmed. But I’ve a feeling she doesn’t want to see you for a while.”
“The police say Melisande’s going to go down for a good long time,” says Noreen.
“It’s what made her a star,” says Arnie, which Noreen doesn’t understand, but it makes we guys chuckle. We may be heavenly, but we’re no angels.
Arnie Garth looks around the hospital room, but I like to believe he’s talking to Noreen. “So – where do we go from here?”
I look at Lyle and he looks back at me, and we both decide to just fade away.
“Well,” says Noreen, “I don’t know about you, Arnie, but I think it’s high time that I went back home.”